Before Forks
by chocolaterox10113
Summary: Well the title basically tells all. This is the story of what happened to Bella before Forks. Was she different? What was life like for her? What was the real reason she ran away to her rainy little hometown?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Twilight/ New Moon/ Eclipse/ any of the forethcoming books or any of the characters from them. I also don't own Phoenix AZ (no kidding right?) but I felt that I should mention it even though technically it's a real instead of a made up city. Hope you like it! Leave reviews always, I (there's supposed to be a heart here but the comp is spazzing, so just imagive it or just say the word love as you read this) them :)**

"Mom, I have to go!" I yelled across the house to my currently invisible mother.

"I know, I know just give me a second," she shouted back from somewhere in the direction of the master bathroom. Of course "master" really meant nothing because we lived in a house about the size of a box of Altoids so her bathroom was only about a square inch bigger than my own. Even then it was tiny, fitting two people in there was practically impossible.

"I'm going to be late," I said as I walked towards the bathroom. In truth I was only going to be late to meet someone, not actually for class like I had implied.

"Since when do you care about punctuality?" she questioned, hopping out of the bathroom on one foot while trying to tie her shoe on the other. I just glared at her and didn't give a response; if she knew what I was doing she would probably have a heart attack. "Fine fine let's go, I'll finish my makeup in the car at the office." She was, at the moment, a secretary for some big company, Manage Corp. They managed a whole bunch of baseball, basketball, swim, and any other type of teams there are. We both walked out the door to her Jeep and got in after a momentary argument over who would drive. She won. The drive to school was relatively short, only ten minutes, but walking the whole way in the blazing heat of the end of a Summer in Phoenix would make anyone come close to passing out. As soon as the car was out of the driveway she had to ask,

"So why are you so determined to get to school on time today? I know you are generally punctual, but we are going to be early."

"I just want to see my friends, that's all," I lied quickly. "Why do you care so much about how you look suddenly? I mean I know you always make sure you look presentable, but today it seems like you are going for more than that," I questioned; matching her politely interested tone.

"I did nothing different today, you can look in my makeup bag, it's all the same stuff."

"I know it's the same stuff but usually you don't spend..."I looked at my watch, "... forty-five minutes to get ready in the morning, not even including your shower time."

"I'm just slow today Bells. Hey look it's the school, I'll see you later, call me if you need to pick you up later for any reason." she ushered me out of the car quickly.

"Bye mom."

"Bye Bells."

I walked into the school with butterflies in my stomach. I almost walked into three lockers, two walls, five people, and finally did walk into an open locker door. I'm even clumsier when I'm nervous apparently.

Finally I wound myself through the halls of the school towards my locker, and there he was. He was leaning against my locker like he had done that same thing every day for the whole year. All the girls looked at him as he passed and I had to wonder why he chose me. One of the most awkward girls in the school, he was too perfect. As I walked up to my locker he said in his deep voice,

"Good morning"

"Hey," I replied, almost whispering.

"Ready to go?" he asked, matching my quiet tone.

"Yeah let's go, I could use some coffee about now." We both had a free this period, and he was a year older than me, a 16 year old junior with off-campus privileges. Our plan had been to drive to Starbucks and hang out there until the next class started. We started back towards the door, through the people walking to their first class of the day. As we walked he grabbed my hand gently and held it as we walked on through the door with people staring at us as we left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Because apparently the website is trying to prevent spam I wasn't allowed to post this until two days after I wrote it so what did I do in the meantime? Wrote another chapter of course. Lol Leave comments pleez, I want to know what you think. ******

**It seems that Bella has found a guy friend, and hopefully one that will stick.**

Chapter two

"So….." I started off lamely. We were sitting in his car on the way to Starbucks and all had been quiet for a while.

"You're pretty when you're nervous," he stated, laughing slightly. He might have meant that to help me calm my nerves but all it really did was set off all the butterflies in my stomach…again.

"So," I tried again. "what's your favorite song?" I asked hoping to get him to start talking about himself so I could just sit, stare, and marvel that I was actually going out on a date-like thing with one of the most wanted guys in school, Keith. His name was a good indicator of how he looked. He played about any sport there was, his favorites being soccer and basketball. It would be one thing for him to just be a jock, but he also liked to read, anything and everything. He was good in every class there was. His favorite class was math because he loved solving problems, and after school when he didn't have practiced he tutored little kids in math and reading.

As I sat there listening to him talk and thinking about how perfect he was, I began to wonder why he chose me. I was the girl that people walked into because they just didn't notice me. I was clumsy and did OK in my classes but I definitely had to work for my grades.

"Bella?" his deep voice interrupted my personal evaluation.

"hmm?"

"I asked you what you thought of this song," he said sweetly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I get too caught up in my thoughts sometimes." I listened to the song that was playing on the radio and recognized it almost instantly. "It's one of my favorites. What about you, what do you think?"

"It's on of my favorites too, I love all of their music." At that moment we pulled into the parking lot and went inside to find a seat and order our drinks. I ordered my usual tea and he got some coffee drink that had a very long, confusing name. W didn't have much time left to hang out because the coffee shop was full of early morning commuters looking for a pick-me-up before they headed to the office to do whatever it was that they did.

"Why don't we just hang out in the car?" I suggested. "We can keep listening to music and that way we don't have to search for a table, then have to get up two minutes later.

"Sounds good," he said and grabbed my hand not holding the tea and we walked out. When we reached the car he opened my door for me before getting in on the drivers side. It was a little cheesy I thought but the idea was right.

"So what about you? I talked about myself all the way here so now it's your turn." I couldn't help but be pleased by the fact that even though he was probably the most popular guy in school he was still not full of himself.

"Well I'm pretty boring really," I started off lamely. My horrible conversational skills in action. "What do you want to know?"

"Well let's start out with your full name. Is your first name actually Bella?"

"I wish, actually it's Isabella, but only teachers I've never met call me that."

"There isn't anyone that still calls you Isabella?"

"I may be kind of shy sometimes but that is the one thing that I will always correct people on. I hate that name, it's so…formal and it sounds like it was made up sooooo long ago."

"Well I like it," he said, smiling widely. "it fit's you, elegant and pretty." This just made me blush again so I quickly pointed out the time and said we should probably get going or else we would be late to class.

We made it to the school just as the bell rang signaling the end of first period. He grabbed my shoulder before I could walk away and suggested that we go to Starbucks again the next morning. I agreed then ran off to keep him from see how thrilled I really was.

**The relationship progresses! Leave comments please I always want to hear what you have to say. ******


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter time- I'm bored and avoiding doing research that's why this came so soon after the other two (hopefully) well anyway enjoy.**

I was sitting at the table I shared with my best friend Emily, trying to think about the date like thing and determine if it was a date but she refused to leave me to my thought.

"So how was it?" she questioned. "Did he hold your hand, did you guys get along? Don't just leave me sitting here without information you know that drives me crazy."

"We got along fine," I said, conceding to the peer pressure, yes he held my hand. At her excited giggle I cut in before she could say anything else, but that's as far as it went _as it_ _should be. _I glared at her.

"Soooo…." She trailed off

"So nothing, we went to Starbucks, got coffee, drove back, and we're going to do it again. There's nothing more to it than that," I said firmly, trying to get her to stop talking.

"Bella?" the teacher asked.

"La chica va a la tienda porque ella quiere comprar un suéter nuevo con el dinero ella recibe para la navidad," I answered the question easily. Spanish was my one class where I could afford to not pay attention and still pass, and this was my last year of it.

I walked to my next class, math, in a slight panic. He was in my math class and I really needed to pay attention. What if he sat next to me? How was I supposed to concentrate then? I walked into the room and he was there of course, motioning for me to come sit next to him. How was I supposed to concentrate now? The room was fairly small for the number of desks they had crammed in there and so we ended up sitting very close. I could smell his sweet cologne and as I tried to concentrate on what the teacher was explaining, it was hard. He was too cute to not look at. I wanted to keep looking at him, pretending to look at one of the many "love math!" posters around the room.

The class ended, I had managed to force myself to pay enough attention to get all the notes I needed to understand the topic and finish the homework. I went through the rest of the day thinking about that date, and math class, because it seemed like I wasn't the only one that was distracted. Just the thought made me smile, knowing that even though he seemed to be the one that everyone was after he chose me. Despite all the peppy cheerleaders with their perfect blonde hair and awesome coordination he chose me. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against myself, but still that's who all his friends were going out with.

All my friends continuously pestered me with questions all lunch period until I finally told them what happened. The corwded luch room was the perfect place to have a conversation that we didn't want to be overheard because it was so loud and everyone was having their own discussions. They wouldn't believe me when I told them that there really wasn't much to it but finally they gave up and continued their obviously more interesting conversation about who was going out with whom and the upcoming dance. I tuned them out as usual, all their chattering didn't interest me all that much. Instead I focused on the gray-white wall paper and all the posters for various clubs, supporting eating right, and advocating everyone's favorite slogan "make good choices don't," and then whatever the poster was against. The group of people I was with was cool to hang out with sometimes, but mostly they gossiped and talked about guys, something I wasn't all that interested in discussing. Sometimes when I was in a particularly quiet mood I just brought my book and read. They all seemed to think that we were really close, but that was just how it was. No reason to change something that was ok as it stood.

**So Bella is head-over-heels for this boy. Leave comments- tell me how I can improve the future chapters or if I should just give it up cause it really sucks that much. Lol.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I figured after the very very fast posting of three chapters this one could wait a while- sorry for those of you who didn't want to be kept waiting. ******

The rest of the day passed without incident. I walked to my car and Keith was standing there. He was holding a CD with a strange design on the cover but no title. He was holding a small book,_ The Catcher in the Rye. _His height was accentuated by the fact that my car was tiny. My mom had called me at the end of lunch to tell me that she couldn't' pick me up so she would get my car to school. I had a Mini Cooper, and just the idea of him sitting in the passenger seat was hilarious. It would be worse than math class. It was a tight fit even with one of my friends, and they were tiny.

The sunlight was reflecting off his hair, making it seem more brown than black. His eyes seemed an even lighter shade of green than usual. He looked perfect, especially in contrast with my rather beat up car. He, of course, drove a Corvette. It was a bright cherry-red and was slightly conspicuous in the huge parking lot filled mostly with used, middle-class, and slightly beat up cars. Most of the kids had to pay for their own cars and couldn't afford something as nice as a Corvette, at least not a new one with a nice paint job.

"Hey," I started.

"Oh, hey, I was waiting for you," he said quickly.

"I figured, that is my car you are leaning against."

Well… Yeah, I just wanted to say bye before you left."

"OK, bye," I said, slightly confused but overjoyed all the same.

"Do you want to borrow this CD?" he asked in a rush. "I think you'll like it." He was blushing under the tan that was common throughout Phoenix. I, on the other hand, was often asked if I was sick because I was so pale.

"Umm sure, I'll listen to it at home and give it back to you tomorrow."

"Great," he said, giving me a quick hug before striding away.

I threw my backpack in the passenger seat before getting in on the driver's side. I was thinking about all the days' event on my short drive home. I didn't have too much homework to finish so I started dinner before starting to work on homework at the kitchen counter. It was one of my favorite places to work.

Our kitchen was painted a bright blue (my mother's handiwork). Each of the windows had bright yellow curtains framing them, and plants trying to grow in the windowsill. There were windows all over so the room so the room was full of natural light. The windows had colorful stained glass pictures hanging from the top of the window frame that added even more color and character to the room. Every other room in the house was decorated in its own fashion, but the kitchen was the brightest. All the rooms were different colors and had various decorations all over the room. Each room had its own personality, each a reflection of my mom in some way or another.

I finished my homework and put the CD in the CD player we kept in the kitchen. It was a mix of songs, some I had heard before and loved, and some that were totally new and I loved just as much if not more as the old songs. I finished making dinner while listening to the CD, ate, and grabbed my laptop to check my email.

**So even more connection is being made! They found at least one similarity, music. What will happen on their next outing? Oooh intrigue lol. Leave reviews so I can make it even better.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alice-In-Wonderland101- to start with thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the writing. Yeah I decided that she should have a boyfriend and I'm trying to make it seems like she doesn't really have any friends, not totally succeeding I can tell but I'll work on that. If you read into this chapter for like two sentences I fixed that and I might go back and fix it in the other chapter as well. I forgot that she lived in a nice area, hmmmm. I think I'll stick with it, I'll change it if I feel like it'll really help. **

**To everyone- sorry if the next chpt or so is rather boring, but I have to develop her as a character :-/ . Hope you enjoy it anyway! **

I didn't have all that many emails in my inbox. A few from the girls at lunch asking what I was doing this weekend that had exclamation points every few characters, two from my best-friend (best being a relative term) telling me how some guy had asked her to the dance that was in about a month and how she liked him but didn't 'like' like him so she wasn't sure what to do. I was too elated with how my date went so I didn't feel like pretending that I paid really any attention to her love life. The little bit that I did care was out of respect for her as someone who was at least willing to try and get close to me.

A song came on from the CD that made me start laughing, 99 Red Balloons by Nena. I was laughing picturing tall, slimly muscled, Keith, sitting in his car, listening to the pop song. Possible he would be singing along or if he wasn't in his car maybe he would randomly start dancing. I almost fell off my chair from laughing after I pictured that. I liked the song but I couldn't imagine a cool, macho guy like him enjoying it at all. I knew I was being stereotypical but it was still a very entertaining thought.

As I was responding to some of the emails the phone rang and I jumped to answer it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey Bells, I just wanted to call and see if you were home," my mom said on the other line.

"Mom, it's a Wednesday night, why wouldn't I be home?"

"I don't know, maybe you could be hanging out with some of your friends." She always expected me to be this social butterfly that had something to do every single night, rather than the girl who always had her homework done because she had no social life.

"Ha ha, very funny," I laughed sarcastically.

"Fine, well did you make something for dinner or should I pick something up?" We had long ago decided that my mom was not allowed to touch the stove after she tried to make oatmeal, but it was totally solid. She was not known for her cooking skill, and she loved to experiment then force other people to eat it. We usually ended up sick afterwards, so I did most of the cooking in the house, and she picked up food on the way home if I hadn't made anything.

"I made food"

"Good, I'll see you in a little while."

"Bye mom."

"Bye."

Right as I put the home phone down my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller-ID but it was an unknown number. I half recognized it, as if someone had written it down for me and I read over it but didn't' remember whose it was.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella," said an easily recognizable, deep voice.

"Keith?" I asked, my stomach doing a flip at the mere idea that it was him.

"Hey Bella," he repeated, not seeming unnerved or tense at all.

"Oh hey, I forgot to put your number in my cell."

"That's fine, I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a real date this weekend. Maybe go out to dinner then a movie?"

"Sounds great," I said. By this time my stomach felt like it was somewhere in the vicinity of my throat.

"OK, How about I pick you up around six or so and we can go to one of the restaurants around the theater. The movie starts a little before eight, that way we don't have to be in a rush." So he had thought about this and planned it. I could get my voice to a reasonable pitch to answer him.

"Sounds good to me," I said, still struggling to control the rising excitement and panic.

"See you tomorrow," he said, then hung up. My mom walked in right as I closed the phone, about a minute or so after he hung up. As soon as she walked in I started to tell her the whole story, but stopped before I said anything. She totally disapproved of my dating, according to her it was an activity that should be saved until I was in college. She thought that because her marriage to my dad had failed because they were so young, I shouldn't even be allowed to date. She would let me date but would make her unhappy feelings about it known. I was perfectly content with leaving her in the dark and keeping her happy. It also meant that I could be happy without having her feelings interfere. If she was unhappy, I was unhappy. It wasn't anything that she did, that's just how I was. I couldn't stand for people to be displeased with anything I did.

I went to bed, thinking about coffee tomorrow morning and the upcoming date.

**So now it's actually been stated that it's a date, and she's hiding it. What will come next? How far will things go? All I want for Christmas (or whatever holiday is coming up next) is more reviews I love hearing your input ******


	6. Chapter 6

**-Alice-In-Wonderland101- about the story pace thing, was it better the last chapter or the story in general?**

**-And A (fracture girl I'm talking to you lol) who is that certain someone? B? cause I actually wasn't thinking of him at all! Jeez way to assume I'm obsessed. Lol but yes I was thinking of Spanish when I wrote that.**

**-For everyone, thank you to the three people who signed up for the story alert thing I'm glad you like it. And yes I do usually write these during Spanish class, hence the reference to Spanish class. So she has a date and things seem to be going well, but is Bella as secure as she seems (hint hint). Haha, well I hope you like it, as always leave reviews. I love hearing what you have to say. And after the world's longest introduction you can now read the story. Enjoy ! ******

That night I had unnerving dreams about him standing surrounded by all his friends, laughing at me for being so foolish and innocent to think that he would actually want to go out with me. I imagined that he only went out with me on a dare to get some money and a good laugh at the poor girls who had no close friends. Next I pictured myself standing in the front of a local Italian restaurant, looking around, searching for him in the groups of people that walked through the door in waves. Then I was outside on a bench, curled up with my knees drawn to my chest and my face tucked in between. The same restaurant was behind me, the lights off, the doors locked. Everyone walked around me was wrapped in coats and huddled close to each other, walking quickly to get out of the abnormal cold weather. I was still wearing the nice skirt that fell just past my knees and the lacy tank-top that matched the skirt and a light sweater I had grabbed as I walked out the door. I was shaking from sobs and the cold and people stared at me as they passed. On person put their hand on my shoulder, the sobbing, cold, me didn't even notice that the person was there, and at their light touch dream-me jumped and real me jerked awake.

No, I convinced myself. I forced myself to remember yesterday afternoon. He had waited for me, by my car, with a CD that he had made just for me. All I had to do was remember his cute, nervous stuttering to make myself relax. He wouldn't pretend to like me; he couldn't be _that_ great of an actor. Keeping those thoughts in mind to fen off the worry, I went through my usual morning routine. I decided to drive myself to school this morning so I didn't have to put up with my mom's constant worry about my academic and social life.

I pulled into the parking lot and took the first parking space I was, even though it wasn't close to the actual school buildings. I grabbed my bag checked in one of the rearview mirrors to make sure I looked presentable, and then headed towards the school. As soon as I entered the campus, Keith jumped up from a bench on which he had been reading and started walking next to me as I headed towards my locker.

"Good morning!" He practically sang as he said it.

"Is there such a thing?" I asked jokingly. I was tired from my tossing and turning caused by the horrible nightmares. I decided on the spot not to inform him of uneasy dreams.

"Not a good night for you?" he questioned innocently. "Bad dreams?" I practically walked into a wall in my astonishment; luckily he pulled me away before I made any contact.

"Bella, is there something you need to tell me?" he asked, still laughing. I, on the other hand, felt queasy at his words. I was about to say something but he continued talking. "Can you walk through walls?" At his joking words I relaxed and started laughing with him.

We had reached my locker so I threw my books and backpack into it, and we walked hand in hand out the door to his car.

"Do you mind taking my car again?" he asked as we neared the red Corvette.

"On at all, my car was mean for me and…" I paused, pretending to think. "Nope, just me. It's tiny, but I love it all the same." He opened my door for me then got in on the other side. A few people looked at us, surprised that two so different people would be going anywhere together. He didn't even seem to notice the stares, but unfortunately I was acutely aware of all the people watching. We drove off campus, listening to a different CD he had made that I loved just as much, if not more than the last one.

**Ahh romance. I think this is my favorite of the two stories I write. I love reviews so rite them please, tell me what you think, something, anything, I'm open to it. And to those people out there who read this and are driven crazy by all my run-on sentences I'm sorry about that, it's a bad habit. ******


	7. Chapter 7

**Alice (yes I'm shortening it srry)- glad you actually like it and you're in Mexico? That's AWESOME! Well considering it's Spanish one and I write because I know what the teacher is talking about I highly doubt I'll be going to Mexico anytime soon. And I only update so quickly because I have no life, not really something to brag about**

**Everyone- So maybe she isn't as secure as she seems? We shall see what happens. Hope you still like it. This is where it gets a little more "T rated". It's not bad at all, no worse than the actual books (which I quite obviously don't own) just giving you a little heads up. Hope you like it! ******

We went to the same Starbucks and we continued our previous conversation, just getting to know each other. Today out conversation focused mostly on music. We liked a lot of the same music but our tastes did differ sometimes. Much of our time was just spent enjoying each other's company, even from the little time we had spent together, it seemed like we were very compatible, but not so compatible that hearing him talk was like listening to my own thoughts repeated out loud, and in a deeper voice.

Again, I moved through the rest of my day focused on our coffee date that morning. The only time I wasn't totally immersed in my own thoughts was when my 'friends' started questioning me about it. Yet again they soon got bored when they realized for the thousandth time that I didn't share their love of analyzing his every word, tone, and action. Again, they went back to having their inane conversation, not even trying to include me in it. As usual I sat in contented silence, ignoring most of what they said anyway and focusing on my own thoughts. I spent hours a day just thinking. Even when I was with my 'best' friend I generally just listened to her nearly endless talking, nodding when appropriate, and saying something if strictly necessary.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?" I dragged myself back to reality to listen to whatever it was they felt the need to ask me.

"I think Keith wants to talk to you," said one of the girls as she pointed towards one of the other tables in the over-crowded cafeteria. I followed her hand and saw Keith looking in our direction and as soon as he caught my gaze he motioned me over to his table. There were already many people sitting at and around the table, but he didn't seem concerned with them. I threw the rest of my food away and walked over to join them. He offered me the empty seat next to him and introduced me to all his friends. I soon found that despite the fact that the table was overcrowded, it was one of the largest in the cafeteria, and the cleanest. Our maitnence crew usually avoided the cafeteria if at all possible so it generally was cleaned by detention students who did the least they could possibly get away with. He joined the conversation two of his friends were having about the upcoming sports season and I immediately tuned out.

"Bella?" I was surprised to hear my name. Being addressed twice in one lunch? What had happened to the world?

"Uh, yeah?" I directed my question to the stranger I was pretty sure had addressed me. He was one of those jocks that always made me surprised that they could speak, or fit through doorways. He was very large and most of his mass was made up of muscle. He was considered attractive by most of the girls in the school but I preferred guys that weren't about three times my size in both height and width. Muscle was good, but not when it made the person resemble a bear. He had two pretty girls sitting next to him, one on each side, each sitting as close as was physically possible without actually sitting in his lap. Both the guy who had spoken and the girls sitting next to him laughed.

"We asked what you thought of that Spanish quiz," he stated while the girls continued to stifle giggles.

"Oh," I said, taken aback at being asked a question that was usually reserved when in dire need of a safe topic of conversation. "I thought it was easy."

"Really?" he asked, sounding interested.

I heard someone whisper, barely audibly next to me, "He just wants you to do his homework for him."

"Do you think you could tutor me?" he questioned.

"Come on Brett. She would be your fourth tutor." The next comment he directed at me, "The first three quit because of complaints of him refusing to do his own work and harassment."

"Harassment?" I asked, Brett seemed rather stupid, but not violent, and he seemed to know that if he wanted someone to do his homework he shouldn't hit them. He looked at me, wondering how I could question what he said. Then I looked over at Brett, who had one of his hands on the back of the first girl and the other hand on the leg of the second. He was smiling a very self-satisfied, impish grin.

"Oh," I breathed, suddenly understanding.

"Come on, it would be fun," he teased, still grinning.

"Brett, she has a boyfriend, back off."

"I know, I wouldn't do _too much_."

"It's ok, I think you can figure out past tense on your own," I replied quickly, not wanting him to get the idea that I would be found anywhere near him.

"Fine, have it your way," he said. He motioned to one of the girls to leave with him and they disappeared through the cafeteria doors that led out to the back alleyway. The other girl looked disappointed at being the one that was left behind so she stalked out the normal exit.

"Ummm, Keith," I prefaced. "Why did they go out to the alleyway?"

"Bella," he said, giving me a look like _you know the answer, just think._

"Wow, he's really…" I trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

"Popular?" he finished.

"Yeah. So," I started, slightly uneasy. "What about you, were you…popular… before you decided to go out with me?"

"I had one other girlfriend but never have I been like Brett," he assured me.

I started to relax at his words and we walked to math class together, becoming closer than ever.

**So we learn what type of people our cutie Keith hangs out with. Reviews make my day! **


	8. Chapter 8

**So what shall happen between Keith and Bella? Will they continue on the great path they've been on or will one or both of them fall off the edge? (I'm aware that doesn't really make sense but w/e you get the pt). **

When I got home I realized that in all my excitement, when Keith had asked me out I had forgotten to ask him what day he was asking me out for. I decided that instead of waiting until the next morning, in which we weren't going to have coffee unfortunately because I had an English test, I would just call him now. I picked up my phone, took a deep breath, and after finding his number in my contacts called him. He picked up around the third or fourth ring and just hearing his voice calmed my nerves a little bit.

"Hey Bella," he said as if we had planned for me to call him.

"Hey Keith," I said, slightly tentatively. "I just realized that I forgot to ask you what day you wanted to…" I paused momentarily, realizing that I wasn't sure how to refer to our date.

"Go out?" he finished for me, using the words I was afraid of using for fear that he would correct me saying that we were just hanging out. It's surprising how one word can change the whole meaning of a phrase sometimes.

"Yeah."

"I was thinking Friday, does that still work for you?"

"Yeah that's fine," I answered, relieved that I would have plans on Friday so I wouldn't have to deal with my mother's usual questions about my social and love life.

"I was actually going to call you," he started. "I was wondering if you cared if Brett came along also. You can say no, it won't bother me but I think he needs to learn that you are my girlfriend and therefore less up for grabs by him." I noticed his reference to me as his _girlfriend_ but I also noted the fact that he had only said "less up for grabs" instead of totally off limits.

"I'm only less off limits?" I asked, slightly discouraged, emphasizing the word less.

"To him _no one_ is off limits, usually if they are going out with someone it only makes him want them more. Of course as soon as he gets them to agree to be like those two girls with him today he's ok. Lucky for both of us he likes me so he won't try really hard to get you to be with him." He paused for a minute, lost in thought. "Well as with him as anyone can get. I think the arrangement he had with the two girls is the closest he gets with anyone. Anyway I have to go do homework and stuff so I'll see you on Friday ok? Don't worry about Brett, I have more to worry about than you and I'll try to keep him away from you as much as possible."

"Thanks," I said, relieved that he seemed like he really didn't want me with Brett. And that he seemed totally against Brett's ideas on how to treat girls.

"Oh wait," he said suddenly. "I talked so much about Brett that I forgot to let you answer the question." He laughed. I liked that he didn't blame me for not answering the question, it was comforting.

"It's fine with me, as long as I don't have to sit next to him."

"Oh don't worry, he'll probably bring a girl or two to entertain him."

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep, let's have lunch together again, if you don't mind all my friends."

"They aren't any worse than mine," I responded. "That sounds good."

"Bye Bella."

"Bye Keith." And with that we both hung up.

Talking to him was comforting, hearing his voice and all the little ways that he reassured me, whether he knew it or not.

I decided that because I had no homework left to do I would go and try to find what I would wear. It had to be attractive of course, but not to someone like Brett. I opened my closet door, and as I searched through my clothes I remembered why I didn't like doing stuff like this. There was nothing that I thought looked attractive on me. On a manikin or a model everything in my closet would look amazing, but on me it was merely passable. This is where my 'friends' came in handy. They may not be the type of people that I would ever be close to, but they did know about clothes and guys, sometimes I thought that might be all they knew about.

I called Emily and asked her if she could come over and help me pick out an outfit and she hastily agreed and came right over. The only downside to asking her to help me was while she dug through my clothes I had to answer her endless questions about our relationship and what I thought and what I thought he thought on and on and on. Finally she decided that I possibly had some pants that I could use, but there was no hope for any of my shirts so we had to go shopping. She suggested that we should get our whole group together and all go to the mall.,

"It would be so much fun!" she exclaimed.

"Oh come on," I said, exasperated. I decided that the only way I would get what I wanted was to appeal to her. "We haven't had a girls' night out in forever. Just you and me," I said, sweetly whining.

"Fine, do you want to go now or a different night?"

"Let's go now," I said quickly. If I said a different night who knew what was going to happen, who else would be invited, what we would allegedly agree to do after we found clothes. I didn't have an opinion on shopping, but I didn't think I could handle it surrounded by all my squealing friends.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. We went to the mall, I found a top that Emily insisted was, "absolutely adorable" on me and I thought at least looked better than the rest of my clothes. I got a new pair of jeans that I could wear with a cute pair of heels that matched my outfit. Everything was all set, now all I could do was wait and anticipate.

**So Bella's going on a date soon and everything is all planned. Sorry if this chapter was even more boring than the rest I'm still developing characters here. Reviews make my week! Make me happy and leave them please ******


	9. Chapter 9

**TheBestForksAren'tTheShinyOnes – I agree with you on the fact that it was kind of cool that Edward was Bella's first, but I have an ultimate idea and plan in mind so just bear with me for a while. If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them.**

**Everyone else, yet another full day account would be really boring so I'm going to skip ahead- sorry if that bothers you but I really don't want to have to write over two hundred or three hundred chapters. That's just TOO long. Lol, hope you like it ******

"So is he there yet?" four of my friends asked me over the phone. I made the mistake of telling them when the date was so they all felt to get together at Emily's house and call me to get every single detail before I left for my date that night. They had called at five thirty, asked me where I was in the "getting ready" process, and of course were all shocked by the fact that I hadn't done anything yet. I managed to calm them down and except for hanging up once, they had been on speakerphone since. The once happened at around six, when I actually had to start getting ready at least a little bit, I made the mistake of telling them I had to go and hanging up over their protests. They each called me from their own cell phones, two called my cell and two called my home number and they kept calling until my mom got so annoyed (after about two minutes) that she made me just keep them on the phone. It was a little strange having them talking to me as I took my shower, did the best I could with my hair, put on my new outfit, and tried to make myself look good.

As I got ready they continuously gave me tips and advice about looks, what I should say, what I should do, what I should do with my hair and makeup, anything and everything that came to their minds seemed to come out of their mouths as well.

It was a relief when he pulled up in front of the house, this time in a larger SUV instead of the little Corvette. I told them he was here and hung up immediately. As I was hanging up the phone I could have sworn I hear them say something about texting me every few minutes to see if I needed to be saved or not and to see how things were going, as if this wasn't hard enough without their constant pestering.

He came up to the door, alone, and rang the doorbell to unnecessarily tell me that he was there. As I opened the door he greeted me with a hug, and I could hear someone shouting something from the car. He promptly and cheerfully flipped them off. I may not have been able to understand what they were saying but he quite obviously could, and considering it was said by Brett I could get the basic idea behind it.

He gave me the front seat with him driving and we left the neighborhood in the direction of the theater. He grabbed my hand as he drove and asked,

"So Bella, any ideas what restaurant you want to eat at?"

"No, I haven't been here in a while so I'm not really sure what's around there," I said truthfully and not wanting to be too picky. Trying to be inclusive and hide the fact that I loathed him on concept I asked Brett, "What about you? Any ideas?" There was no response so I turned around and say him making out with his chosen girl of the night.

"Oh," I trailed off. Keith glanced in the rearview mirror and said,

"Wow, usually he waits until we are at least three-quarters of the way there." He laughed slightly and just the sound helped me to relax.

"So what about you?" I asked. "What were you thinking of for dinner?"

"Let's let it be a surprise," he said, grinning widely. "Unless you have any objections to any type of food." He looked over at me to assure that I didn't.

"Sounds good to me," I replied. "So where are we going?"

"I told you, it's going to be a surprise."

"Fine, have it your way."

"Trust me Bella, I've been here a million times before and I thought about it earlier. I think you'll like this place," he said while still grinning. Brett was still in his own world with the girl of the night.

"I trust you," I said sincerely. "What's Brett's….girlfriend's name?" I asked, unsure whether she could really be called his girlfriend or not.

"Well you don't have to refer to her as his girlfriend, more the person he's with for tonight. Her name's Beth I think, don't worry too much about remembering it, you won't need to know it for long. They don't tend to get offended when you forget, they just want him."

"Oh," I said, not too surprised but slightly put off for some reason.

"I'm sorry, I just brought him along because," he paused. I could tell he really wanted to explain this, but for some reason he couldn't.

"Keith," I began, relishing the feeling of addressing him. "You don't have to explain it if you can't for some reason," I comforted him.

"It's just that, I really want to explain it but I'm afraid it isn't really my story or promise or whatever to tell. But you seemed upset so I'm trying to think of a way to explain it. I'm just worried that he might care if I told you. He may be a jerk most of the time but he's still my friend." This whole speech was said slowly with long pauses in between sentences as he searched for the right words. It also was amazingly comforting to me. Just the fact that he noticed that I was put off and that he was really trying made me want to reach over and give him a hug. The only reason I didn't was because we were in a car and he was driving so I contented myself with squeezing his hand as I said,

"It's fine, don't worry about it if you can't tell me. I wouldn't want him to be mad at you."

"Thanks Bella, are you sure it doesn't bother you?"

"Nope I'm fine," I said smiling over at him to prove my truthfulness. We continued on in a comfortable silence for a while, even Brett and Beth made no noise. After a while we heard a quiet female voice coming from the backseat. At first I ignored it, slightly afraid to hear what Beth was saying to Brett. Then he asked,

"So Keith, where are we going for dinner? We're both starving back here." I was surprised to hear him sound so normal. It seemed like after I had at least learned about the side of him that could feel emotion he wouldn't sound like the same old jerk anymore but he did.

"Brett we ate right before we left the house, it's only been half an hour, how can you guys be hungry all ready?" I turned around to look at him as he responded and Keith looked in the rearview mirror. His only response was a sly grin while Beth scooted closer to him and played with her hair.

"We're almost there, and I can't tell you where we're going because I want to surprise Bella."

"Oh come on, if you at least tell me then I won't feel as hungry."

"How do you work that one out?" Keith questioned, laughing at the thought.

"Just tell me, forget your fancy little surprise, it's going to last a whole two seconds anyway. After that you'll just be people in a restaurant so why does it matter?" he asked, desperate to not be left in the dark as to where we were going and what we were eating.

"We're here, stop whining," Keith commanded.

We all got out of the car and Keith led us in the direction of a small group of restaurants all grouped around a courtyard in the middle. He chose a small Italian place that I had heard of before. It was known for amazing food and a very nice setting. It was probably one of the nicest restaurants in town that teenagers could still afford. As we were led to our booth by one of the hosts he whispered,

"What do you think?"

"It's amazing, thank you." Then we sat down, I was near the window that opened out into the courtyard with Keith sitting next to me. Beth was across from me, looking bored with Brett sitting across from Keith. We all got dinner and dessert and it was every bit as good as I had hoped for. I wasn't totally sure what it felt like to fall head-over-heels for someone, but I was pretty sure that was what was happening to me.

**Bella had a boyfriend, Bella has a boyfriend! So maybe those coffee dates might actually turn out to be a relationship. **

**Sorry to those of you who liked Brett being a shallow, self-centered, girl-obsessed, jerk. I felt the need to make him have feelings, to help show Keith's of course. Keep reading and you might find out what's actually going on! Ooh incentive to live through my crappy writing for the semi-ok plot! Lol leave reviews- they make my day and keep me happy. I do read them and consider them so it isn't like it's pointless. **


	10. Chapter 10

**So Bella has an actual boyfriend, one who calls her his girlfriend. Brett might actually have feelings and they are all out on a date. What will happen later?**

Dinner was delicious, dessert was even better, and all of it was enhanced by the simple fact that I was on a date, with Keith. He seemed to like being with me, and close to me.

"The movie is about to start," Keith said after was had finished dessert and paid the bill. "We should probably get over there." So we all headed over to the theater, bought our tickets, and found some seats in the top corner of the theater where we were fairly secluded. As soon as the lights went off Brett and Beth went back to their previous activities while Keith and I sat and watched the movie. After the movie we all went back to the car and Keith asked me,

"So do you want to go somewhere else or just go back home?" This was a tricky question. It meant that he wanted to hang out more and he was trying to see if I had enjoyed myself enough to agree with him. I did want to, but I was afraid my mom was going to be home soon. "We could go back to my house and just hang out," he suggested. I decided that I could just tell my mom that I had been out with friends and she would be OK with it.

"Sounds good to me," I replied. As soon as we got to his house Brett and Beth mysteriously disappeared while Keith and I went to the kitchen. He got us something to drink and we just sat and talked like we always had. Being with him was so easy. Conversation wasn't forced and we could just sit in a comfortable silence simply enjoying each other's company. At about ten-thirty he offered to take me home and we both left.

Once we were in the car and about to pull out of the driveway I realized that Brett and Beth weren't with us. "Shouldn't we get Brett and Beth so you can take them home too?" I questioned, not particularly enjoying the thought of having them in the backseat again, but also not wanting to have them stuck at Keith's house.

"Oh, he lives near here and she'll probably stay the night with him."

"OK," I replied, slightly confused but accepting it all the same.

The whole drive back was spent listening to and discussing whatever music came on the radio. If I had been unsure at first of whether we could make this work and if he was really my kind of guy, all those doubts were gone. He seemed perfect. Even when it was quiet we were comfortable. All my stereotypical thinking had been totally wrong. I imagined most of the 'jocks' to be guys like Brett, except maybe not as much of a jerk, but Keith proved me wrong. Many of his friends were very nice and he himself was amazing.

I spent that night thinking of what we would or could do on our next date, whether we should continue our coffee outings, and just about Keith in general. My dreams that night were slightly disturbing though. All the guys I had seen at the lunch table and their girlfriends were in a huge group and standing closer to me were Brett and Keith. As I took a step towards him, two girls appeared by his side, both wearing tiny pink skirts and tight tops. He looped one arm around each of their waists, pulled them closer to himself, and turned away from me. I continued to try to walk towards him but he just kept getting farther and farther away.

I woke up with a jolt and looked at the clock that sat on my bedside table. It read six forty-five in the morning, time to get up and get ready to go to work. I tried to put the dream out of my head by busying myself with the small tasks of getting ready.

As I grabbed my keys my phone rang so I grabbed it as I walked out of the door to my car.

**So it was a great night. Bella seems happy in life, but what about her dreams? Do they actually mean anything or are they just random thoughts playing in her head trying to mess her up? Review please, I love them, they make my day : )**


	11. Chapter 11

Yes I know it's been forever so here you go, enjoy the end, sorry if it sux :P

**Yes I know it's been forever so here you go, enjoy the end, sorry if it sux :P**

As soon as I got to Keith's house I rang the bell, but no one answered. I tried the door and it was unlocked so I let myself in.

"Keith!" I yelled. I didn't hear a response so I started towards his room. As I passed the bathroom I heard someone throwing up so I opened the door to find Keith sitting on the floor, leaning against the bathtub.

"Brett called me and said you weren't moving"

"Yeah, I was asleep and he was drunk. I'm just hung –" but he started to throw up before he could finish the sentence.

I stayed with him all morning until he started feeling better. We were sitting on his bed, relaxing and talking while he ate some soup. It was nearing dark, and he had stopped throwing up and had regained most of his color.

"God, you must have had _a lot_ to drink last night."

"Yeah, but it was worth it. Hey, thanks for staying with me," he said, starting to lean toward me. Before I knew it I was laying on his bed with him on top of me. I felt his hands start to lift up my shirt, then take it off. We stayed like that for a while, just making-out. Then his hands began to unbutton my jeans.

"Keith," I whispered. But he totally ignored me, so I tried again, louder this time, "Keith."

"Bella, just stop talking," by this time he had unbuttoned my jeans and was trying to pull them off, so I broke away.

"Keith stop, I don't want to." He allowed me to pull my jeans back on, then started kissing me more fervently. After awhile he tried again to get my jeans off.

"Keith, I already said no –" but before I could even finish my sentence I felt his hand fly across my face. With that I grabbed my shirt and ran to my car.

"Mom, when you and Phil leave, I'm moving to Forks."


End file.
